ABSTRACT Companies around the world make considerable investments to obtain ISO 9000 certification for their quality management systems. They do this in the belief that certification will not only bring specific external benefits such as increasing customer satisfaction and improving reputation, but also internal benefits such as greater productivity and operational efficiency, greater management commitment and greater employee awareness. They also hope that ISO 9000 will be a tool for continuous improvement. The purpose of this research is to study the expectations of the organization when they decide to obtain ISO 9000 certification and the problems of the organization during the process of applying for ISO 9000 certification. Interviews are conducted with a number of employees within an organization that has been certified recently in order to determine what their expectations are, what they report to be the reality of certification. Based on the results of the research it is determined that indeed some of the expectations are realized but at the same time problems are also found in an organization.